142 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
April. 
Fruit Prospects for 1851. 
The progress of vegetation in 1850, in the case of the 
peach, plum and grape, was probably unfavorable n its 
bearing on the prospects of fruit for the present year. 
Peaches were greatly injured by the “ curled leaf,” 
in June, 1850, the fruit being nearly all destroyed, and 
all the early shoots incurably dwarfed. The shoots that 
must bear the fruit, if any, this year, started late, and 
did not mature very well in the autumn. My fear is, 
that the buds had less vigor than usual to meet the se¬ 
verity of winter. A considerable number of buds are 
yet alive, enough, perhaps, for a fair crop; but whether 
they will be sustained though the remaining vicissitudes 
of winter and spring, we cannot tell. 
Plums were defoliated extensively by the hot, damp 
weather between July 14th and Aug. 21st., while yet 
the fruit was not mature. Hence, I am lead to fear a 
feeble state of its fruit buds, though my experience in 
these matters does not enable me to anticipate confi¬ 
dently. 
Grapes were severely injured, at the same time, and 
in the same way, as plums were. Much of the fruit 
never matured, in consequence of the defoliation occa¬ 
sioned by the mildew. When trimmed, in October, 
many vines needed cutting back nearly to their old 
wood, so immature was the growth of the season. Grafts 
set in April, that had made a growth of eight feet, were 
frequently cut back almost to the stock. I fear, there¬ 
fore, the buds of next spring will start weakly, at least 
in many places. C. E. G. Utica, Jan. 25, 1851. 
On Grafting. 
As the season for grafting is approaching, a few re¬ 
marks upon that subject may be acceptable. There is 
no kind of labor which brings a richer return than a few 
hours spent in grafting. And at the present time there 
is no difficulty in obtaining scions of the most approved 
varieties, gratis, or at a rate merely nominal. The best 
scions for grafting apple trees, are obtained from the last 
year’s growth, on the points of bearing limbs. Some 
grafters take scions of two years growth, under the im¬ 
pression that the grafts will bear one year sooner, but I 
would not recommend the practice. Many of the buds 
appear to lose their vitality, and the growth is apt to be 
irregular and unthrifty. The scions may be cut any 
time during February or March, and placed in a cellar 
with the butts upon the ground where the air will not 
strike them. In grafting apple trees, I have been the 
most successful, in cutting the scions about the fifteenth 
of April, and setting them immediately. Grafting wax 
may be made in the proportion of 2£ lbs. rosin, 1 lb. 
tallow, and % lb. of beeswax. When melted together it 
should be poured into a tub of water, and the operator, 
after rubbing his hands with tallow, should work it over 
till it becomes tough, and light-colored. If it should 
be too sticky, more beeswax may be used. Some graft¬ 
ers omit the tallow, and use in its stead, a small quanti¬ 
ty of linseed oil, poured into the kettle after the rosin 
and beeswax are melted. If the weather should be 
cold at the time of using, the wax may be softened by 
placing it in a kettle of warm water, or holding it over 
a lantern with a candle burning in it. The tools neces¬ 
sary for grafting are—a bank-saw, set wide enough to 
run easily through the limb, a grafter’s knife and wedge 
united, to split the limb and hold it open till the grafts 
are set; a small mallet, and a thin bladed pocket knife, 
with which to sharpen the scions. Probably the best 
time for grafting apple trees, is from the 15th of April 
to the 10th of May. If the grafting is to be done in 
May, the scions should be cut earlier in the season. As 
the operation of split grafting is easily learned by a few 
minutes observation of the process, I need not go into 
the details. The outside of the wood in the stock and 
scions should exactly correspond. 
In grafting an orchard, many farmers seta large num¬ 
ber of limbs in the middle of the top, leaving many of 
the lower branches to be lopped off as the new crown 
increases in size. It would be better for them to dis¬ 
tribute their favors more equally over the tree, and thus 
secure the advantages of greater space, air, and light— 
and finally more abundant bearing. 
The annexed figure 
represents a very conven¬ 
ient grafting tool for 
splitting the stocks in 
orchard grafting— a , the 
handle— h, the blade— c, the wedge— d, the head to 
knock it out with, after the grafts are set. The whole 
need not be more than 9 or 10 inches long, including the 
handle. D. D. Geneva , March, 1850. 
Northern Fruit Trees. 
Eds. Cultivator —In the last volume of the Cultiva¬ 
tor, p. 395, is an article from the pen of S. W. Jewett, 
on the adaptation of southern trees to a more northern 
latitude, which appears to me to be calculated to mis¬ 
lead the unwary, and therefore to require some notice. 
The writer admits that — 1 ‘ fruit trees of most kinds 
taken from nurseries along the sea-board, and replanted 
in Vermont, have, in most cases, met with ill success.” 
But he adds—“the fact is now well established, that 
those trees re-set in these parts [Addison county] which 
were propagated in the nurseries on the banks of the 
Hudson, are hardy and thrive better than most of the 
trees from our nurseries .” 
On what authority this statement is founded, except 
the single case of Mr. Hunt, who, it seems, is engaged 
in selling trees from southern nursuries, the writer has 
not informed us. I apprehend the matter has not been 
sufficiently tested to become a well established fact, that 
trees reared on the banks of the Hudson are better 
adapted to our climate than those of our own raising. 
The admitted fact that trees brought from the sea-board 
—from a climate only a little milder than that of the 
banks of the Hudson, meet with ill success, seems sadly 
to conflict with the other fact so “ well established.” 
Now, the writer will not probably deny that the rea¬ 
son of the almost universal “ ill success” attending trees 
brought from the sea-board is, that being reared in a 
milder climate, their texture and habits are not such as 
to adapt them to our higher latitude : and if there is any 
stability or uniformity in the natural laws, this reason 
holds good in all cases where trees or other plants are 
removed from south to north, just in proportion to the 
difference in the temperature of the climate; that is, a 
